2nd Cake 30r; Some (Ineffective) Bluffs

Played full day Monday. Day of frustration ended on a good note with a 2nd place finish in the Cake 30r. Still haven't won that tournament like a swore I would, but I'm sure I will. Otherwise had finished 13th with 12 qualifiers in a satty for the 1K WCOOP event on Sunday, and was annoyed, and took some beats in some big pots the rest of the day. But hey things happen. At least the day ended on a good note. Now up about 2.5K to start the month, so at least I won't spend the entire month feeling like I'm digging out of a giant hole.

Here are three hands that had a big impact on deciding the outcome of the Cake 30r. RespectMGame is a Cake regular that plays fairly TAG (for a multi player anyway, which is a sliding scale). As a result I tried to control the action, as I had done for the rest of the tournament, but got burned a couple times. Here's hand 1, still three handed:

Hand #16182CA330002761: $25,000 GUARANTEED!! - R&A
Seat 3: Resp*** (656465.00 in chips)
Seat 4: bzimzim (416814.00 in chips)
Seat 8: VoxM*** (351221.00 in chips)
RespectMGame posts ante of $1,000
bzimzim posts ante of $1,000
VoxMan posts ante of $1,000
VoxM***: posts small blind $5,000
Resp***: posts big blind $10,000
Dealt to bzimzim [ Kc Jd ]
bzimzim: raises to $26,000
VoxM***: folds
Resp***: calls
@@@ F_L_O_P @@@ [ 3c 6c 5h ]
Resp***: checks
bzimzim: checks
# # # TURN # # # [ Qc ]
Resp***: bets $20,000
bzimzim: raises to $60,000
Resp***: calls
&&& RIVER &&& [ Qs ]
Resp***: checks
bzimzim: bets $70,000
Resp***: calls***
SHOW DOWN ***
bzimzim: shows [ Kc Jd ] (Pair of Queens )
Resp***: shows [ 3h Ad ] (Two Pairs, Queens and Threes )
Resp*** wins $320,000 with Two Pairs, Queens and Threes

I'd been cont. betting a lot, but hard to represent that flop, so happy to take a card off. Pick up the flush draw on the turn and raised, he called. I didn't put him on much. Queens paired on the river, and I bluff in a way that attempts to look like a value bet. He tanks and eventually calls. NC. I still like the way I played it. He had to put a lot of chips in with bottom pair.

Now heads up:

Hand #16182CA330002775: $25,000 GUARANTEED!! - R&A
Seat 3: Resp*** (925065.00 in chips)
Seat 4: bzimzim (499435.00 in chips)
RespectMGame posts ante of $1,200
bzimzim posts ante of $1,200
Resp***: posts small blind $6,000
bzimzim: posts big blind $12,000
Dealt to bzimzim [ Ts Kc ]
Resp***: raises to $29,000
bzimzim: calls
@@@ F_L_O_P @@@ [ Js 4c 3d ]
bzimzim: checks
Resp***: bets $30,200
bzimzim: raises to $85,000
Resp***: calls
# # # TURN # # # [ 9c ]
bzimzim: bets $120,000
Resp***: raises to $300,000
bzimzim: folds
Resp***: returns uncalled bet $180,000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Resp***: mucks
Resp*** wins $470,400

I interpreted his bet as a standard c-bet and c/r with air. He calls. Here I get stubborn and fire again, which I hate in retrospect. If he's calling the c/r, he's probably going with it. Plus he'd try to pick up pots with smallish bets in relation to the pot a lot of the time, I might have been able to see a cheap river. I don't like my play here.

Final hand:

Hand #16182CA330002793: $25,000 GUARANTEED!! - R&A
Seat 3: Resp*** (861730.00 in chips)
Seat 4: bzimzim (562770.00 in chips)
RespectMGame posts ante of $1,200
bzimzim posts ante of $1,200
Resp***: posts small blind $6,000
bzimzim: posts big blind $12,000
Dealt to bzimzim [ Th Kd ]
Resp***: calls
bzimzim: raises to $35,000
Resp***: calls
@@@ F_L_O_P @@@ [ 9h 9d 8d ]
bzimzim: bets $42,000
Resp***: calls
# # # TURN # # # [ 5c ]
bzimzim: checks
Resp***: bets $42,000
bzimzim: raises to $134,000
Resp***: calls
&&& RIVER &&& [ 2h ]
bzimzim: is all in 350570.0000
Resp***: calls
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bzimzim: shows [ Th Kd ] (Pair of Nines )
Resp***: shows [ 8c 6s ] (Two Pairs, Nines and Eights )
Resp*** wins $1,125,540 with Two Pairs, Nines and Eights

Again, I'm not sure I actually mind my play in this spot. I'm representing big here. My c/r on the turn is something I'll also do with a big hand. Again, I put him on a marginal holding, and I actually thought he might have had a draw, in which case my shove wins it for sure. Instead he calls with a weak 8. Another good call. Sometimes the other guy just plays better.

The only thing I wonder about in retrospect is whether I played too aggro against this guy in general. clearly he was willing to call me light, and had the impression I could put chips in without much of a hand. Which I could obviously. But maybe it would have paid to be a little more solid and attempt to get paid. On the other hand, if the key to no limit is to force the other guy to a decision, I did plenty of that. Just didn't work out this time.

3 days until Ohio State-USC.